Heatwave
by meekobb
Summary: Elsa and Rodney get stuck in the infirmary together during a heatwave. Tempers run as high as the temperature. Will they kill each other? John/Elsa  OFC


Written for Nat, who gave the prompt: Elsa & Rodney trapped in the Infirmary. Elsa is an original character from JumperBay, SGA RPG, and belongs to me, all the other characters just do my fantasy bidding and does not belong to me. If they did, I'd have Sheppard in my bed right now.

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><p>It was a long hot day in Atlantis and it seemed that the central cooling system was down from being overloaded. While the scientists and techs worked to replace the generators, the rest of the city was forced to endure the heat. Well, most of them anyway.<p>

The small section of the city that the infirmary was in operated on its own generator and luckily, since it had a much less demand for power, it hadn't given out. And lucky for Doctor Gutierrez, she was on a double shift so she had the pleasure of basking in the comfortable air for at least the next 24 hours. She hoped by then all would be fixed otherwise she would be camping out at the far end of the pier were her and John have their own little hideaway.

Sitting at a computer terminal, Elsa tried to not gloat for having the luxury of cool air as she tried to get more work done as she wouldn't be as sluggish as those in the gate-room who were practically dead on their feet. She already managed to get nearly a dozen and half charts updated that were long overdue as well as run pending blood work for the lower lab which was closed due to the heat crisis.

All in all, she was probably one of the most productive of the personnel in the city. Of course, if you asked one Rodney McKay, she was just playing with her hair the entire time and looking pretty for the uniforms.

Dr. McKay was certainly in one foul mood to say the least. While trying to repair one of the generators, he managed to get a particularly nasty cut on his hand that forced him to have to give up for the time to get it treated. When he walked into the infirmary holding his hand, dripping blood all over the floor, Elsa looked up and grimaced.

"McKay! Couldn't you have wrapped it or something?" she asked as she hopped down from her stool to pull him over to a treatment area.

He rolled his eyes and snorted. "Wrap it with what? My sock?"

"It would be an idea although I have a better idea where you could shove your sock," she replied as she poked at the laceration to see how deep it was.

"OW! You crazy bi-! What is wrong with you!" he hollared, barely able to cut himself off from full out cussing.

Elsa looked at him, hand on her hip as she waited for him to settle down so that she could resume treatment. Once he was almost down to a manageable level, she grabbed her supplies. Preparing a number of saline flushes and a large needle with lidocaine, she looked at him again.

"This is going to hurt a little but will get better. It's for pain and to numb the area. You definitely need stitches so I would appreciate it if you can just stay still so that I can do it without you leaving with an ugly scar later," she said.

"Fine, fine, just get it over with," he nearly whimpered as she began injecting the numbing agent. As it began to set in, Rodney found himself calming some until the lights began to flicker before going off completely.

Tapping his earpiece, he radioed the control tower, "This is McKay! The lights just went out in the infirmary! What the _hell_ is going on?"

_Dr. McKay, this is Chuck...I don't see anything wrong in the area...Wait, there was a short surge but I'm showing you have power. I'm not sure wha..._

"Well get Zelenka to fix it!" he ordered as the lights came back on. It wouldn't have been too bad if the problem was just that, but one of the nurses rushed over.

"Dr. Gutierrez? The doors won't open!" Nurse Ingham reported, who was supposed to be leaving by then.

"Great! Just lovely! First the generators and now this! If there was ever a god, please kill me now!" Rodney cried.

Elsa sighed and rubbed at her temple where the headache that was starting to form throbbed. "McKay, can we _please_ finish here first before you run off doing god knows what? I really don't want to have to sedate you to finish here but I will if I have to!"

He glared back at her as he held out his hand again. "I don't know what Sheppard sees in you," he said, earning only an eyeroll from the woman. "Sure you got a little body and perky boobs, but you're a witch. A she-devil..."

"I'm great in bed," she added with a smile and a groan from the man. "And I make him happy."

"I'm sure you know how to make him happy with all your _experience_," he retorted and instantly regretted the implication he just made.

It was enough to hit a sore spot in Elsa that she pulled a stitch through a little too hard causing the scientist pain. At least for the next few minutes she managed to finish her job and bandage him up before escaping to Beckett's office so that she can calm herself down in private.

She stayed in there for some time while Rodney tried to find a way out but unfortunately, the crystals for the doors fried and those were only accessible on the outside where people were busy with getting the other generators repaired. Since there was no medical crisis going on, it wasn't high on the list for people to get there but as soon as someone was free ...

Elsa was still in Beckett's office when Rodney barged in and slumped on the sofa that he kept in there for himself when he had late nights and was simply too tired to go back to his quarters. "May I help you?" she asked cooly.

Rodney was about to retort with another rude crack at her when he looked up and saw her tear stained face. "Uh, erm, no. I sometimes wait here for Carson..." he said in a softer tone. Realizing that what he said earlier was much harder on her than he thought, he felt bad.

"Look, I'm uhh, sorry, about that," he stammered.

"It's fine. Just leave it," she said, wiping her face as she turned a page in the chart she was reading.

He was about to walk out to find some other place to wait for rescue but decided against it. Turning back to her Rodney shuffled his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Dr. Guti..Elsa... I really am sorry. It's just for so long Sheppard wasn't interested in having a relationship and you came along. I know you and him had something in the past, he said as much, but I didn't understand really. I'm just not used to seeing him so _happy_."

Elsa listened but tried not to make it obvious as she had her eyes fixated on the desk. Swallowing the lump that caught in her throat, she also knew this was a sincere Rodney. One that John explained would eventually come to her to make peace. "I'm not some trailor park trash that sleeps around to score anything that would get me out of the boonies," she said. "I've have had my share of relationships, all of which John knows about. I would appreciate it if you would just leave us alone. I'm not going anywhere."

McKay nodded in acceptance. "If Teyla and Ronon are okay with you, I guess I can be too."

Nodding, she stood to go back out to the main area. As she made it to the center counter, the doors slid open and John walked in looking back and forth from Rodney and Elsa.

"You're both alive..." he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well thank you Captain Kirk for you daring rescue," Rodney snapped. "We're fine here. Thank you very much."

Elsa looked at McKay and smiled. "Don't get your hand wet for the day. You can wash it with mild soap and water but don't let the stitches soak. We can remove them next week if you let it heal."

"Fine, fine, whatever. I still think you're an evil witch you know," he said as he headed out.

"You're still an insolent fool!" she called after him as she went up to John.

"So..."

"So, we came to a sort of truce," Elsa smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He smiled down at her with one of his smirks. "Well we managed to get the generator for the science labs going. He'll be in his the rest of the night it looks. Any chance you can get off early?"

"Um," she said thinking. "I don't..."

Carson walked in waving a hand, "Go lassy. Ya just had to put up with Rodney locked up _and_ injured. I'll finish your double for ya."

She narrowed her eyes on John who just continued to smile at her. "You planned this, didn't you?" she whispered.

"Who? Me? Nah," he grinned. "I did plan a very special surprise for you in a _very_ quiet area of the city where _no one_ will find us though."

Tightening her arms to pull him closer to her, she grinned. "I love the way you think Colonel Sheppard," she said as she kissed him.


End file.
